Lancashire – Working together locally using Red Rose Maps

Like almost every other area of the country, Lancashire is served not only by multiple local authorities (nine borough councils, two city councils, one district council and the county council) but also by local emergency services, various primary care trusts and a range of other public sector organisations – all of which have different boundaries and jurisdictions. Yet all of those involved can essentially benefit from the same information about the county: demographics, land use, crime information, location of key facilities, etc. More importantly, they recognise that the more information they have on these issues across not only their zone, but the whole county, the more valuable that information becomes.

The result was the development of Red Rose Maps, a collaboration which delivers GIS services to the whole of Lancashire and allows staff at any of the partner organisations to view and make use of a wealth of statistical and map based information about the county. The services are delivered online and centrally, removing the need for each council to invest in its own GIS platform. What’s more, because each council sees the benefit of this unified information source, the project is entirely built on joint funding.

Now, not only do council workers use maps to help them plan workload, make planning decisions and examine core services, but the different parties involved in a Local Area Agreement – such as healthcare trusts, social services and third sector organisations, as well as police and the local authority – can identify problems. For instance, particular anti-social behaviour hotspots are easier to highlight: each party records the location of an incident on the central database. Even if the incidents themselves aren’t connected, it is then possible – based on the unifying fact of their geographical location – to identify where interventions may be needed, and which organisation (police, social services or another trusted partner) would be best placed to deal with the issue.

The information and resource has also been extended to the public, through Maps and Related Information Online (MARIO), a web portal which enables citizens to search for details about their local area, from location of bus stops to the location of speed cameras. This service was described by Socitm as “excellent.”